SALT LAKE CITY — North Carolina’s waiting game for Luka Bogavac is continuing on Friday night, as the international import is with the Tar Heels for their exhibition game against BYU, but won’t be in uniform and thus unavailable.
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The teams tip off this high-profile preseason matchup at 9pm at the Delta Center, the home of the NBA’s Utah Jazz.
Carolina has arrived here at the arena 10 nights shy of its Nov. 3 season opener. And Bogavac has gained clearance from the NCAA to play college basketball during the approaching 2025-26 campaign, which coach Hubert Davis confirmed this week. But his playing status hasn’t been fully resolved by UNC.
What remain are internal checkpoints for UNC to complete, before Bogavac is able to take the court as a member of the Tar Heels, program sources have explained. While his admittance to UNC as a student occurred months prior, and he has been enrolled in classes since the fall semester began in mid-August, the school’s determining of his playing status ultimately makes for another separate step in the eligibility process, program sources have said.
“We’re making progress,” a program source told Inside Carolina on Friday night here in Salt Lake City.
The 6-foot-6 guard Bogavac is the newest addition among the 10 newcomers on UNC’s overhauled roster, and arrived on campus more than two months ago, after playing professionally for European club teams in Serbia and Montenegro. Bogavac spent the last two seasons in the Adriatic Basketball Association (ABA League) with the SC Derby club in his native Montenegro.
Bogavac turned 22 years old last month. After finishing high school, he took college courses for two years while overseas, a situation that has become a complicating factor in his playing eligibility status at UNC, sources have said.
On Wednesday, Davis said Bogavac “possibly” could play here on Friday night in the exhibition game against BYU. A school official said on Wednesday the UNC athletic department and university are working to finalize the process, but there’s no timetable for completion.
“From an NCAA standpoint, yes,” Davis said Wednesday when, asked if Bogavac had gained clearance to play for the Tar Heels. “Institutionally-wise, we’re working on it, and we’re making progress.”
Bogavac committed to Carolina on May 31, cleared UNC admissions in early July, and was granted a student visa in August, after interviewing with U.S. embassy officials in Montenegro. He’s coming off the best pro season of his young career, during which he scored nearly 15 points per game. And he has picked up plenty of international experience while competing in a number of FIBA championships and qualifying tournaments for Montenegrin national teams.
He supplied 14.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game last season for SC Derby in the ABA, while shooting 45.1 percent from the field, including 39.9 percent from 3-point range. He sank 87 percent on free throws. He delivered 19 points or more in eight of his final 15 ABA games, including a season-high 27 points (fueled by five successful 3-pointers) and 24 points (on the strength of a season-best seven 3s). Earlier this month, he scored 14 points in UNC’s Blue-White scrimmage game.
“He’s been great getting to know and also coaching him,” Davis said recently. “He’s been fantastic in the classroom and also on the court. As a player, he’s somebody who can do a number of different things on both ends of the floor. He’s got great size, can handle it, and make plays with the ball in his hand. Can shoot, score on many different levels, mid-range, get to the bucket, excellent passer, and somebody who had a burning desire to be here and to be a part of this program. And as soon as he walks into a room, it just brightens up. He just has that type of personality I’ve really enjoyed being around.”
Bogavac is the son of an accomplished basketball father, too, in addition to his own professional background. His dad, Nebojša Bogavac, played professionally in Europe for 13 seasons and has worked in coaching since 2012. He’s currently an assistant coach for the French club Metropolitans 92 in Paris.
Several of Luka Bogavac’s former teammates from the SC Derby club are embarking on their own NCAA basketball journeys this season, including David Mirkovic (at Illinois), Andrija Grbović (Arizona State) and Vladimir Sudar (Pepperdine). Illinois twin towers Tomislav Ivisic and Zvonimir Ivisic are recent alums of SC Derby and the ABA.
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